The Whole is the Sum of its Parts
by gocubsgo17
Summary: "Should we tell him?" "Yes! Yes, you should." A Parts in the Sum of the Whole redux. Sweets' POV
1. You Can't Handle the Truth!

**A/N: This has probably been done before and if it has, I'm sorry if I'm being redundant or boring OR if my words remind you of something else you've read. I can promise you that I've never read a fic like this before, and that's why I have to get it out there, because this idea's stuck in my head and it's driving me insane. It's **_**COMPLETELY**_** AU at this point, obviously, since it starts from the 100****th**** episode. It's what I wish they had said. I'm also writing from Sweets' POV, something I've never done before. I'm doing my best but if something needs tweaking, let me know! :) Some of Sweets' info says (about is background, etc.) is what I know from the show plus things I added (Like the biological psych tidbit). You'll see.**

**Oh, and by the way…no Hannah. Yeah. That's how I roll. Lol**

* * *

"You kissed…" I speak the words as a statement, letting the words roll over me to help me realize that my book was crap.

"Yes."

"There was tongue contact."

I fall back into my chair.

"My book is crap," I confide to my two favorite patients.

"Well that's why we wanted to come here today," she says. Sure, that totally makes me feel a whole lot better. I think about saying that to her, but she doesn't understand sarcasm and I'm not in the mood to explain.

"Yeah, we just wanted to warn you, Sweets, so you wouldn't be barking up the wrong tree," he adds. He looks sorry for me. Now I'm never going to get published.

"How long did this affair last?"

I have to know. My inner gossip queen needs to know.

He takes a deep breath in, and seems to hold it. She looks at him. They each smile slightly. They're having another one of those moments. Charlie, Booth's favorite junior agent, and I have talked on several occasions what it's like being around them. Charlie and I both had parents who were inseparable. His parents are planning on celebrating forty eight years together next month. Mine died days apart, neither of them willing to be apart for too long. Both our parents had 'moments' similar to mypatients.

"Should we tell him?" she asks him. And suddenly, it's like I'm not even in the room. I hate the way they do that.

"Yes!" I shout, then more calmly, "Yes, you should."

She looks at me and then looks back at him and sighs. He sighs too and puts a little smirk on his face. I just want to wipe that goofy grin off.

He launches off into the story. They're back, kissing on the steps to the pool hall. She tells me they don't go home together.

"'Tequila,'" she quips, using that lame excuse. Tequila normally makes you do things you shouldn't or don't want to. I want to yak thinking about the time my biological psychology professor took my class to a gay bar. _Way _too much tequila that night.

She tells me she got into the cab, on the sole intention of going home alone. Yeah, right. He's not about to let that happen.

And I'm right. He tells me he climbed in the cab with her and went back to her place. They're adamant nothing happened that night, only talking, staying up 'til four to sober up together, looking up hangover cures online, and showering, separately.

I want to believe them. Like, it's awesome that they've been together that long, but what about all those other boyfriends and girlfriends I've heard about. So I ask.

They claim they've been on and off again for years. Pete, Tessa, Sully, Cam, all flings and only a few came close to forever ending what they had. But nothing could. It took a big shake up in their professional relationship, Booth's time on that dilapidated ship rigged with explosives, to really set in both their minds that they wanted nothing else, no one else.

They confess they're in the process of moving his things to her place. Moving in together? Had their relationship progressed this far without me knowing?

"There is no way my book is getting published now," I tell them. And he laughs. She, an accomplished author herself, sympathizes with me and my literary failure and chastises him for his chuckle.

"So, that's it?" I want to know. There has to be more to it. "You guys have been hiding it from us for this whole time?"

She shrugged. "We didn't want to mention it because I didn't want our personal relationship to interfere with our professional one."

"Yeah," he chimes in, "I mean, you know how Angela is. She'd never let us get anything done."

"I have a feeling she knows. I'm pretty sure she saw us the other day," she tells him, doing that thing again where I'm suddenly nowhere to be seen.

"Oh you mean when we…Oh, well then, so Angela knows. And she probably told Hodgins who probably told all of the Squinterns and probably even Zach so…maybe it's just you and Cam that are out of the loop," he amends.

I nod, smile and roll my eyes. Of course I'm the last to know. I'm always the last to know everything.

His phone beeps and he says the movers, or Russ and Jared, are at his place. They stand to leave. And, being the totally awesome observer I am, I noticed the way he looks at her. It's almost the same way he's always looked at her, but something's different and I just can't put my finger on it.

But he looks back at me.

"You don't believe us, do you, Sweets?"

I shrug. "It hasn't sunk in yet." It's not a lie. I totally didn't see this coming.

He gets that egotistical smirk and he crosses the room in two steps to her. It's a hungry kiss. And much to my surprise, she doesn't pull away.

I want to look away, but…shit, I'm fascinated. I've been waiting to see something like this for…well, since I've known them.

"Come on, babe," he says, "let's go boss the movers around."

He smiles at her glare. "How many times to I have to tell you? And just because Doctor Sweets knows about us now does not give you permission to call me babe, baby or anything else you can think of!"

Looking at me and then back at her, he lowers his voice and says, "what about…you know…"

"In bed. But only then," she says, not bothering to whisper. His cheeks turn pink and he avoids my eyes.

"See ya later, kid. Sorry about your book," he says, pulling her out the door.

They're gone. I can't even believe this is happening. It's like a dream come true. Just as I'm packing up my stuff, she appears in my doorway.

"Doctor Sweets?"

"Yes, Doctor Brennan?"

"Our session for Friday is still on. Booth has issues with me discussing our sex life with Angela. I need you to convince him to not…"

"Be a prude?" I finish for her.

She smiles. "Yes."

"Friday it is, then," I confirm.

"Thank you, Sweets." She turns to leave and I stop her.

"Doctor Brennan?"

"Yes?"

"I'm really very happy for you."

She smiles again, but this smile is, like, the most gigantic smile I've ever seen.

"Thanks."

She leaves and I can't help but think of my parents. Something about my patients just remind me of them. It's love. And I know, I know, cheesy, but it's totally true. My mom and dad were completely and undeniably in love with each other. And so are my friends. Finally.

And thank God because Angela and I were getting ready to stage an intervention.

* * *

**A/N: I really hope you guys liked that. I'm thinking of adding a few follow up one-shots to this if enough people like it. It could just stand on its own and I'm fine with that, but feedback on how I wrote Sweets would be very much appreciated :)**


	2. Make Him an Offer He Can't Refuse

**A/N: Because I'm feeling inspired today (not really, I just don't want to do homework), here's an update :) **

**Oh and follow me on twitter: gocubsgo1717**

* * *

I'm sitting in my chair and I can feel my butt going numb. I've been sitting her for a long time listening to my two favorite patients and two of my close friends bicker.

"It's not going to happen Booth. I've already given in to so much. You can at least let me have this one."

"Nah, Bones. I don't think so. You're doing everything else your way. Don't even try to throw this one back on me."

I want to doze off and let them work this out on my own. We've been here for two hours already and the argument has gone in circles so many times, I'm getting dizzy.

"Doctor Sweets, will you tell him it's not his choice?"

"Sweets, can you tell her that this is for both of us? Not just me. Not just her. But for _us_."

"It is not!" she shouts, "This is not going to happen if you keep trying to take this over! Angela says you have no real say in this!"

"What does she know about these things?" Booth shouts back.

"A hell of a lot more than you do!"

To anyone else, this would probably sound like a violent fight that could end their relationship. But to me, I know it's just a tiny speed bump and they'll get over in a few more minutes.

"Oh and you know so much," his voice oozes sarcasm.

Now, I've seen pissed off women before but if anyone pisses off Temperance Brennan, back the hell up and stay out of the way. And he just made her as furious as a bull in Pamplona.

"I've read magazines and books and I've done my own research! I could do this whole thing on my own!"

"It's not a damn science project, Bones! And you kind of need me for most of it. Otherwise…it's not going to work!"

Okay, so now I can tell that this isn't going anywhere. I butt in. "Agent Booth, have you even tried looking at her suggestions?"

"No," she answers for him.

"You won't let me!" he defends himself.

"Angela told me not to! I want to show you but Ange says it's not a good idea."

"Do you always have to listen to her?"

"She's my best friend."

"So…" he waits for a real answer.

"So yes," she gives him an answer, and I doubt it's the one he's looking for, "I take her advice under extreme consideraton."

"So you can't show me because she says no?"

"Angela says you'd appreciate the sentiment."

"I would if you'd do this the right way."

She's red hot now and I mean there might as well be fire spitting from her nose. Damn, she's mad. But so is he. I bet their make up sex is better than what I have with Daisy.

"There is no right way!"

"Are you kidding me, Bones? Of course, there is!"

"Says who?"

"Says…"

Uh-oh. I can tell Booth's struggling to keep his argument afloat.

"HA!" she shouts, "I win!"

"It's not a competition!"

"You always turn our fights into one," she accuses.

"Nuh-uh, that's you. Everything is a competition to you."

"I like to win."

I can't even remember why they even came in for my help in the first place. I can never get a word in.

"So, let me get this straight," I ask for clarification, "Doctor Brennan doesn't want to wear a white wedding dress but you want her to."

"Yes!" They both shout at me.

"Doctor Sweets, haven't you been listening?" she adds.

"Sweets, we've been over this a million times now," he tacks onto the beratement.

I sigh and I know I'm in too deep. There's more than just the problem of the wedding dress.

"What else?" I want to know. I know they know what I mean.

"I don't understand," she says. Typical.

"You think there's more going on besides the dress thing?"

I nod and wait for him to continue.

"Okay..." he says, thinking things over, "Oh! Okay, how about the problem about the cake."

"You want pie and I want cake!" she shouts, preparing for the argument to start back up again.

"Well…yeah! I like pie!"

"Well, I don't."

Oh boy. Here we go again. I have an idea. Both Angela and I figured this fight was coming, but neither of us figured it'd be this bad. This could totally get out of hand quick.

"Okay, so I have an awesome idea."

"Let's hear it, kid."

They both stare at me and now the silence in the room is overwhelming.

"Have you guys ever heard of a groom's cake?"

They respond with blank stares and silence again.

I continue, "Okay, so there's the main cake, like the one everyone eats from. And then there's the groom's cake. It's a tradition that derives from the Southern region of America. Some serve a groom's cake at the rehearsal dinner, but it can also be served at the reception. A lot of the time, it hardly resembles the other, larger cake. The more modern take on a groom's cake can range anywhere from cupcakes to a large array of pastries to even pie. You two could have the normal cake to cut into for tradition's sake and then Booth doesn't even have to eat cake. We can turn the groom's cake into…a groom's pie."

Oh crap. They're not saying anything. I hate this. It really freaks me out.

But then they look at each other and then back to me. He speaks first.

"Ha ha! Look at that! Sweets had a good idea. How'd you think of that?"

"I will admit that it is an acceptable solution," she says.

I breathe a sigh of relief and sit back in my chair. They look happy for a few minutes and share a few intimate looks between them. Since they announced their engagment, it's been my job to ensure their jobs as partners. Its times like these that make me want to up and quit and send them back to Doctor Wyatt.

"So what are we going to do about this dress thing?" he asks. His tone means to keep the peace, but his words become fighting ones.

Not again. I groan inwardly.

"I'm not wearing white," she declares once again, citing antiquated rituals.

He bites his tongue and I can almost read his mind, thinking he doesn't want to get into another argument.

"Well what color do you want to wear, Doctor Brennan?"

"Black," she answers and I can see him go into shock.

"It's not a funeral, Bones!"

I say the first thing I can think of that could result in a solution, praying to whatever god that was listening that this would all be over soon. Sure, this wedding was going to be amazing. Hodgins had already arranged for an open bar, but I just want the planning stuff to be over so I can have my sanity back.

"What color, beside white, would you want her to wear?"

"White."

"He said beside white, Booth. I know you heard him."

He casts a sideways glance at her and looks back at me.

"Uh…Well she looks good in red. Or blue."

"So, wear a dress that's one of those colors," I say, hoping it's not just 'easier said than done'.

They look at each other once again. She shrugs. He smiles. She leans over to him and whispers something. His cheeks and ears flush with a pink color and he kisses her. They stand up together and he grabs for her hand. She doesn't pull away and they leave, hardly telling me goodbye. Now I know why Doctor Saroyan feels like a kindergarten teacher.


	3. A Failure to Communicate

**A/N: I'm not sure how many more of these there will be. But I really like writing from Sweets' POV so I can probably sqeeze out a few more even though I'm lacking in the idea department at the moment.  
Follow me on Twitter: gocubsgo1717 :)**

* * *

I knock on the front door and wait for a while. I hear feet shuffling but no one's opening the door for me. That damn dog is barking at the door again. I'm normally not afraid of dogs, but Agent Booth has this one trained to kill. Okay, so probably not, but it really doesn't like me. I knock again and finally, it opens. The dog lunges at me. I try to dodge it but Cujo is too quick. He catches me and lays his paws on my shoulders.

"Down! Down, Goose!" Doctor Brennan opens the door a little wider and struggles to get the big dog under control.

"Bones! You gotta yell at him! Like really yell at him or he'll never listen."

"Goose never listens, Dad." Both Booth and Parker come up behind Doctor Brennan and help get the dog under control. Parker named the dog Goose, thinking he'd be as loyal as his namesake from _Top Gun._ While he is loyal, he can't take a command, which ironically goes along with the movie.

"Hi, Doctor Sweets. Are you here to babysit me again?" Parker asks. It's an innocent question but I look at Agent Booth and give him a glare. This goatee is not helping me look older apparently.

"No, Parker, your dad and Doctor Brennan asked for my help so I stopped by."

"Good. Because Cam and Angela and Jack have been here for hours and no one can agree on anything!" His dramatics amused me but not Booth or Brennan.

While Parker distracts Goose, the partners lead me up the stairs of their new house. Boxes are still scattered and things are only half put together despite the fact that me and the rest of the team have been helping with the unpacking and assembling of furniture for the last week. I can hear a few suggestions from upstairs from the team and ready myself for whatever argument could ensue.

They all greet me quickly before asking my opinion.

"Well, what do you think, Booth?" I turn the question back to him.

"No way," he says.

"Why not?" The question comes from Cam, Angela and Brennan. I can tell they've been at this for a while. Doctor Saroyan looks like she wants to pummel Agent Booth, Angela's got that evil plotting gleam in her eyes and Doctor Brennan's thought process is probably leading her toward pushing her husband down the stairs. The frustration and tension in the small room is wicked and I'm getting really uncomfortable.

"I just don't think it's a good idea."

"Well, you might have to change it in the future then," Brennan says.

"Who says?"

"Me."

We've all seen them bicker before so this is no different, though they've never bickered over something so seemingly trivial like this.

"Booth, why can't you just accept that this will be easier in the long run?" Angela tries.

"I don't care about ease. It's easy to change," he tells her.

"Then I don't want to hear your bitching, Seeley. You're going to have to do this by yourself," Cam threatens.

"Fine."

Now, I know Agent Booth is stubborn, but this seems almost petty.

"Are we really fighting about this?" I ask, more in a friend capacity than as a psychologist, "Why don't we just let Parker pick?" Parker usually picked things out for Booth and Brennan when neither could reach an agreement.

"No," a chorus of voices say.

"Why?" I wonder.

"Because the last time we let him pick something, he named the dog Goose," Booth says, both serious and joking.

"I like it," Hodgins finally adds something to the conversation.

"We need a solution, Sweets," Booth tells me. He's practically begging. I can only suggest one thing, and he's not going to like it.

"I say Doctor Brennan gets final choice," I announce, waiting for the firestorm from Booth that'll hit me.

He throws his head back in defeat and Doctor Brennan gets that same look on her face that she gets when they solve a case. Gratifying

She tapes the yellow paint swatch to the wall and throws the blue ones on the floor.

"Sweets! You're supposed to side with me! Guys gotta stick together!"

"Booth, when you house a fetus in your body for nine months, he'll side with you," Brennan tells him, laying a hand satisfactorily over her stomach.

"Bones, I don't know if I want our son to have a yellow room."

"Well, if we ever have a daughter, are you going to want to repaint the nursery?"

"Yep."

She rolls her eyes. "Now you're just being stubborn."

Parker strolls into the room. "Uh, Dad?"

"What's up, bub?"

"Um, I was thinking. So you know our…tradition, right?"

Booth's face scrunches up. He's so confused. It's like Hodgins is telling him about some new bacteria or Doctor Brennan is telling him about a bone anomaly.

"Tradition?"

"With me naming stuff? You know, helping you get to pick stuff out?"

Booth nods. "What about it?"

"Since I picked out Goose's name, do I get to pick out my little brother's name?"

The adults look around at each other before answering him.

"No." "I don't think so, Parker." "Maverick is not an option."


	4. Another Fine Little Mess

**A/N: A little less B&B bickering, but a little more fluff. Let me know what you think :)**

* * *

The Jeffersonian is extremely busy. It's March now and the snow and ice are slowly starting to melt, giving Doctor Brennan and the rest of the team new bodies that had been hidden by the snowfall. Despite their new workload, Doctor Brennan called me, asking for advice.

"I need your help, Sweets," she had told me on the phone about an hour ago, "Are you going to help or not? Otherwise, I'll call Gordon Gordon."

I told her I'd be there in five minutes, but Hacker stopped me in the hallway on my way to the elevator and I'm just now walking into the lab almost an hour late. She's going to kill me and serve my balls on a platter. She is really grumpy. I walk into her office and four sets of eyes greet me.

Doctor Wyatt is already here and that automatically means I'm in trouble.

"Lance!" Hunter greets me with more exuberance than his parents, who look at me like they're going to scold me and put me in Hunter's time out corner.

"Hey, bud!" I say to calm him down. Hunter runs back to sit awkwardly on Doctor Brennan's lap to finish coloring in his dinosaur coloring book.

"Mommy, closer! I can't reach!"

Wordlessly, she scoots as close as she can to the desk so Hunter can get a better angle and she motions for Booth to start first.

"Sweets, think of this as…an interview," he says.

"An interview for what?"

Doctor Brennan covers Hunter's ears with her palms. He looks up in curiosity and she just smiles at him. He seems okay with the fact that he can't hear what's going on and he goes back to coloring the very anatomically incorrect version of a Triceratops.

"Hunter found my case files last night," she whispers, still afraid that he'll hear, "He looked at all of the crime scene photos and x-rays."

"Bones and I have to figure out which one of you we want Hunter to talk to if he's got some sort of psychological confusion now. I don't want my kid going to preschool next year and telling everyone about the dead bodies he's seen!" Booth cries.

"I believe he is fine," Doctor Wyatt adds, "He didn't have nightmares last night and he shows no adverse signs of trauma."

"Yeah, well, I'm not so sure. He begged Bones and I to bring him here today. He was going on and on about the bodies," Booth says.

"Agent Booth, do you remember when a few years ago, Parker found the finger in the nest?"

"Yeah. So what? Parker was older. Hunter is three! It's not the same thing!"

"Actually, it is," Doctor Wyatt tells him. If you make a big deal out of it now, he'll think it is. Pretend is nothing, and the whole situation just disappears!"

"And the whole situation," Booth mocks in his fake British accent, "You know what, I'll tell you what you can do. You can shove the whole situation up your-"

"Booth!" Brennan stops him, nodding toward Hunter. Booth grumbles a bit and I have to fight off the urge to laugh. He does this more and more now. Hodgins says it's because he's a cranky old father now. And the fact that they have a daughter on the way isn't helping matters. Doctor Brennan and Booth have been in several times to see me about his over protective lifestyle. She's already halfway though this pregnancy and she hasn't been out in the field in weeks. They're both cranky.

His phone rings and he answers. It's another case and he steps out of the office, my guess is so he can talk about the case without Hunter listening. Brennan sends Hunter to find Wendell.

"I go with Daddy?" Hunter asks before running out the door.

"No," she answers calmly. I'm fascinated by Doctor Brennan's interactions with Hunter. I had heard stories about the time Booth and Brennan were temporary foster parents for a baby who ate evidence. Up until Hunter was born, I had always wished I could've witnessed her with a baby. The older Hunter gets, the more intrigued I become. I've already got a rewrite for my book in the works.

"Please?"

"Ask your father."

"Ask me what?"

"Daddy, I can come with?"

"What did Mom say?"

"Ask you," he says innocently and shrugs.

He looks up at her and glares. She only laughs as a response and goes back to her paperwork.

"Why don't you stay here with Mom. Maybe Jack can show you some new bugs."

"Yes!" Hunter runs toward Hodgins and Brennan dials the extension number to Jack's station, letting him know he was just volunteered to babysit.

"Okay, let's figure this out. Is Hunter going to be scarred for life now?"

"No," Doctor Wyatt and I say at the same time.

"Okay!" Booth claps his hands together and moves back toward the door.

"That's it? Don't you want to know what to do if he has nightmares or starts to act like a corpse?" Doctor Brennan is panicking. I think it's one of those first time mom sort of things, but she'll never admit to it.

"If Sweets and Gordon Gordon both agree that Hunter's gonna be fine, then I'm alright."

"So you made a big deal out of nothing?"

"No, I only made a big deal out of something," he tells her.

She rolls her eyes. "I don't know what that means," she sighs.

I look at Doctor Wyatt. He's loving this. I think he's known for, like, ever that these two were a couple even when they denied that they were.

Booth takes a few steps and crosses to her desk. Whispering something in her ear, she smiles and turns her head slightly to kiss him.

"Alright, I gotta head out. Crime scene won't be there forever," he says.

"Daddy, look!" Hunter runs into the office, holding an enlarged photograph.

"What is it, bub?"

"A maggot! He eats dead people!"

Scooping up Hunter in one swift motion while taking the picture from him, Booth stomps through the lab. "HODGINS!"


	5. Go Ahead, Make My Day

It's been a long time since they've asked for my opinion. They've figured things out on their own, got into a routine and are still becoming used to a full house.

Not only is it full of the four of them, plus Parker on the weekends, and that damn dog that doesn't understand the words 'get away from me', but Angela and Jack and their brood are always over there too. It's loud. I like parties as much as the next guy, but that house gets crazy.

I walk into the house without even knocking. It's become a habit of mine when I come over so I can avoid alerting the dog. Angela's here and so are Alana and Charlie. Her twins are both busy with Hunter attempting to wrestle the dog.

They're all in the kitchen, the debate of the night raging on without me. The dinner they've been trying to make seems to be going nowhere.

"Sweets! Good, you're here."

"Doctor Sweets, I assume you're here to solve this seemingly unsolvable problem for us," she greets me.

"As always," I lament. Angela laughs. We both know there's no way I'm getting out of this one.

"I believe Booth has told you our…issue. What do you think?"

"I want to know what all parties involved have to say." I'm trying to stay professional. If she's going to treat this as a professional consultation, then so am I.

"I think this is one idea that he'll regret as soon as it begins." Doctor Brennan knows him too well. I totally agree with her but I'm trying to stay objective.

"No. This is…awesome," he says excitably. "If she wants to do it, I say go for it."

"How do you know she wants to do it?" Angela butts in.

"She told me!" Booth shouts.

"Then why won't she come to me about it?" The bicker-fest has closed everyone else out.

"She knows you'll say no."

"And how do you know that?" Doctor Brennan is getting defensive.

"She told me!" he says again.

"Okay, I know you two are really close but does she really think she can't come to me?"

Now I see what this is about. There's more here than what meets the eye. She's got some mommy issues going on. It's nothing I haven't helped her deal with before. Hunter loves his mom more than anything but when he started school, she was heart crushed, not heart broken, if only because she wasn't the only woman in his life anymore. Miss Julie, his preschool teacher, and the little red head with pigtails who sat with him at lunch everyday. I tried throwing some sort of Freudian analysis out there and Booth decked me. That shiner was totally wicked and Daisy took pity on me right up until it healed. It was totally worth it.

"No, Bones, that's not it at all. She just thinks you'll say no, which she's right so far, and she doesn't want to hear it."

"So she asked you because she knows you'll give her anything. You can't coddle her forever, Booth. You can't give her everything in the world."

"I can try."

It's silent between them for a while and Angela and I can feel the awkwardness. Even Hunter, Charlie and Alana in the living room look up at us to see why it got so quiet. I want to know where she is so I can get her opinion but I'm afraid to break the silence. I hear a rhythmic thumping coming down the stairs followed by a soft padding coming towards me.

"Hi, Lance."

"Hi, Annabelle."

She's very tall for her age and she looks like her father. For a reason I'd rather not admit, I'm afraid of her. She shares her mother's intensity and her dad's boldness. She's six and her intelligence has put her way ahead in school.

"Daddy?"

Booth looks up and gives her a pleading look. "I'm working on it, Anna."

"Anna, can I ask you a question?" I ask.

She looks from me to her mother. Brennan nods and she looks back at me, waiting for my question.

"What do you want?"

"I think you know."

"Annabelle," Booth's firm voice tells her to be more respectful.

"Doctor Sweets, I want to play football. Not just flag football. I want to play tackle," she tells me, climbing up onto a counter barstool.

"Why?"

"Because it's cooler."

"Anna, I need a better reason than that."

She rolls her eyes at me and readjusts herself on the stool.

"I want to play football. I'm bigger than most of the boys in my class. I can play football. I _want _to play football."

Her last statement was directed toward her mother. The two headstrong personas often clash and Agent Booth usually has to break things up. Annabelle tries to stare her down but her mother's gaze gets to her and she turns her eyes back to her father.

"Daddy?"

"It's a decision Mom and I have to make together."

"Daddy!" Anna doesn't whine much so hearing her do so is a shock to me.

"Annabelle, I'm not convinced. It seems like a very dangerous sport for a little girl like you," Doctor Brennan says.

"But Parker and Hunter play! And I'll have pads and a helmet and a mouth guard! I'll be fine! If Parker and Hunter get to play football, then I should get to, too."

She has that guilty look on her face and she tears her eyes away from her daughter to look at me.

"Anna, go play with Hunter and the twins," she demands, her eyes never leaving mine. Her glare is totally intimidating but I've got it under control. I'm used to it by now. She's done this to me so many times now that it doesn't even scare me anymore. I used to think of it as a staring contest, one that I usually lost.

"Doctor Sweets, do you have a suggestion for us?" she asks me after Annabelle is out of sight.

"Let her play. Sure, she'll probably get hurt. Maybe it'll change her mind and she won't go back out there."

"I don't know if I like that, Doctor Sweets."

"Bones, if she wants to play, I think she should."

"You want her to play. You talked her into this," Brennan's voice is accusative but she doesn't mean it. Her voice says she's worried. Worried for her daughter's safety in a rough and tumble boy-dominated sport.

"Sure, I think it'd be cool if she played. But, Bones, just because she plays tackle football doesn't mean she has to play wide receiver or defensive tackle. She can be kicker. They rarely get tackled."

His conspiratorial smile gets to her and she smiles back at him.

"Are you going to be her coach?" Angela asks Booth.

"Probably, if we haven't missed the signup deadline."

"I think that would be a good idea so you can make sure she's kicker," Brennan tells him.

I know Annabelle. She's had her daddy wrapped around her finger since the day she was born. She's as stubborn as her mother. And what she wants, she gets, especially if she asks her father.

"What if she wants to be quarterback?" I ask, "Are you going to let her, Agent Booth?"

"You're going to have tell her no, Booth," Doctor Brennan tells him before he can answer my question. She walks to the living room to tell the kids to wash up for dinner, leaving me alone with Angela and Booth.

"Are you?" I ask my question again.

"I can't tell her no. Bones is going to have to deal with the fact that our daughter is about to be the best quarterback D.C. has ever seen."

Annabelle squeals after overhearing her dad's comment and runs to hug him.

Brennan's shout comes from the other room, "I heard that!"


	6. Round Up The Usual Suspects

**A/N: Last chapter!**

* * *

I'm walking up to the house and I can already hear him.

"Somebody did this. And until I find out who, no one is going anywhere."

The Three Musketeers all groan. I glance through the back screen door and I see Goose tied up in the backyard. It's safe to go in. Doctor Brennan isn't home yet, but Booth called me over for something seemingly important. He had yelled over the phone like he was yelling at one of the new FBI lab techs for ruining Doctor Brennan's evidence.

Annabelle is sitting between Hunter and Parker on the couch with Booth pacing in front of them on the other side of the coffee table.

"Dad, Lauren and I have a date tonight! It took me a month to get that reservation at Le Jardin! Even Bones couldn't get in until now! She had to help me!" Parker looks like someone just stole his puppy.

"Well, either tell me what happened or you can call Lauren and cancel for tonight."

"Dad, what about baseball practice?" Hunter asks.

"And my football scrimmage?" Anna adds, taking up most of the couch with her shoulder pads.

"Uh, Agent Booth?"

He looks up at me and claps his hands together. "Okay, Sweets, do your thing."

"What thing?"

"You know that thing where you find out who did it by barely talking to them?"

"Dad, are you interrogating us?" Hunter asked.

Booth just glared at his youngest son and looked back at me.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I found this in the garbage can out in the garage." Booth holds up shards of what used to be one of Doctor Brennan's ancient pots, "Did you guys think if you threw it away in a place Mom wouldn't see that you could just get away with it?"

"Daddy, none of us did it. I promise!" Annabelle says.

"Someone did it because I'm holding a broken vase. Someone better tell me who did it. And now, before I ground all of you for something only one of you did."

"Daaaad!" They all whine.

"Sweets, do your thing." He gestures to the kids and moves to let me take his spot where he was pacing.

I look at him. He's sitting in the kitchen, watching us from the barstools and giving me encouraging hand motions, telling me to get on with it. So I start pacing. I'm not exactly sure what to say so I just keep pacing.

I watch them. And they're watching me. None of them look afraid. I feel like I should be making them feel fear. That's totally not what I'm doing. I glance back at Booth, who is rolling his eyes. I take a seat in the chair across from the kids and stare them down. They stare back. It's like eerie. Hunter and Anna have that same stare that Doctor Brennan has. The one that makes all of the interns crumble and give into her every command. And Parker's stare is the same one his father gives hardened criminals while they're sitting in the interrogation room. I hear the garage door open, signaling their mother's arrive home from work.

"We didn't do it, Lance," Anna tells us, "Mom's here to take me to my scrimmage. Can I go now?"

"I don't think so, young lady," Booth says before I can get a word in.

"But, Daddy! I'm the quarterback! I have to play!"

"Hello?" Doctor Brennan calls as she walks into the house, "Annabelle, are you ready? We're going to be late!"

"I'm ready! Bye, guys," Anna says and takes off for the car.

"I don't think so," Booth mumbles. He grabs the back of Anna's shoulder pads to hoist her back to the couch.

"Anna, we need to leave!" Brennan walks into the house, looking for her daughter. "What's going on?" she wants to know when she sees the three of them sitting on the couch.

"Honey, I found this in the garbage can out in the garage." Booth holds up the remnants of her broken vase and waits for her to recognize what it is.

"What is it?"

"That one thing you had on the top shelf above the mantle." He drops a few shards of the clay pot in her hand.

She looks up to the shelves over the fireplace and sees the empty spot where her artifact had been.

"You found it out in the garage?"

"Yeah. Whoever broke it won't 'fess up. Anna's not going to her scrimmage, Parker's not going on his date and Hunter's not going to baseball practice until we find out who did it. Sweets is here to interrogate them, but he's either doing a crap job or they're being stubborn. It's probably both."

She laughs. "Doctor Sweets, thank you for helping my husband interrogate our children, but you can go home. I got a call from Daisy earlier asking where you were. Leaving her alone while she's on bed rest is not a good idea. You should go to her, Sweets."

"Oh, boy. Thanks, Doctor Brennan. I'll see you guys later." I try walking out the door as fast as I can but Booth stops me.

"Hold on there, sport. Go figure out which one of my kids did it."

"Anna," she calls, "go get in the car!"

Before Booth can stop her, Anna runs past us to Doctor Brennan's car.

"Hunter, grab your baseball stuff! I'll drop you off on the way to Anna's scrimmage." Hunter runs past us too and Booth's face contorts from frustration to confusion.

"Parker," she yells to him, "Don't forget about your date at Le Jardin tonight! Get there early and wear that new tie I got you!"

"Okay, Bones!" Parker dashes by and bounds up the stairs.

"Bones! What the hell?"

"I broke that last night when I was dusting everything. I threw it away outside so no one would cut themselves or get hurt otherwise. Plus, that one's not as old as you think. It's a replica I made when I was in Guatemala. It's maybe fifteen years old."

"Oh," is all Booth says.

"Mom! Come on!" Anna shouts from the car.

"Booth, I need to go. Make sure Parker ties his tie right and I told him he could take my Porsche tonight so don't try taking the keys away when he leaves."

"You're letting him take the car your publisher gave you?" I ask. Booth's more protective of the car than she is.

"Yes. It's a lovely restaurant and Parker is taking Lauren for a nice night out. I told him he could take the car."

"Bones! That's a horrible idea! Giving a teenage boy a car like that is…it's just not a good idea, Bones."

"Booth, Parker has not been in an accident or gotten a parking ticket. He's responsible and I trust him."

Booth runs a hand through his hair.

"Fine. Okay, Sweets, go home. Thanks for your help but your wife is probably going insane right now. Go make sure she stays in bed and my godson doesn't arrive too soon," Booth sighs.

"Alright. I'll see you two at work."

"Goodbye, Doctor Sweets."

"I need to go, Booth. I need to get the kids to their practices."

"Call me on your way home," he tells her. They kiss on the front steps and she gets into the car. As I get into my car and pull out my phone to call Daisy to make sure she's still sitting in bed, I hear, "And next time, just call me, Booth. Not Sweets. Because once the baby arrives, he's going to be calling us for advice."


End file.
